Environmental Education Award
Sponsored by 'Our Environment - It's a Living Thing'
Covers initiatives which inform the community and increase peoples' capacity to be active participants in moving society towards sustainability. Such initiatives could include environmental education activities for schools, community groups or industry/business. Initiatives could form a component of a broader sustainability strategy, or focus on specific environmental issues.
Division A - Winner
Blue Mountains City Council: Sustainable Mountain Living & 'Train-the-Trainer' Program with the new Sustainable Catchment Activity Model
As part of its holistic approach to addressing living sustainably in a World Heritage Area, Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) has developed a sustainable 'Mountain Living' (ML) course and an innovative Sustainability Catchment Activity Model (SCAM). Mountain Living aims to provide very practical information to residents on key areas of sustainability and the 3-D SCAM model serves to reinforce these key messages by providing an interactive way to demonstrate the effects of poor vs sustainable practices on catchment health. The ML course proved so successful that the NSW Environment Trust asked BMCC to host and run a 'Train-the-Trainer' workshop for other Councils in February 2008.
Name: Geoffrey Smith
Position: Program Leader - Natural Systems
Phone number: (02) 4780 5751
Email address:gsmith@bmcc.nsw.gov.au
Powerpoint presentation: 
Geoffrey_Smith_BMCC.pdf (852KB)
Division B - Highly Commended
Strathfield Council: Go for Green! - Schools Environmental Education Gala Day
The Strathfield Municipality is a major educational centre in metropolitan Sydney. As part of Council's environmental education strategy, a schools gala day was hosted on Tuesday February 19, 2008 at Mason Park, Homebush. Each of the 15 schools in the Strathfield LGA were invited to nominate 4 students as Environmental Ambassadors representing their school. A total of 10 schools registered their interest to attend on the day with 40 students participating in a range of activities including wetlands investigations (water testing, bird watching and vegetation studies), a bicycle ride into Sydney Olympic Park, a resource recovery discussion session, an indigenous cultural workshop, an interactive wildlife discovery session and native tree planting.
Name: Jeanie Muspratt and Samantha Watkins
Position: Environmental Projects Officer and Environmental Health Officer
Phone number: (02) 9748 9961 or (02) 9748 9638
Email address:jean.muspratt@strathfield.nsw.gov.au
or samantha.watkins@strathfield.nsw.gov.au
Division C - Highly Commended
Blacktown City Council: Sending out an SOS
The SOS (Supporters of Sustainability) Challenge is an exciting community program that provides Blacktown residents with practical easy ideas on how they can reduce their impact on the environment, by making a few small changes in their home and everyday life. In taking part in the SOS Challenge (http://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/blacktown/index.cfm?50328F04-E7FF-0ADF-9711-53771693916A), residents were asked to take their written commitment/ pledge to reduce their impact on the environment and turn it into action. In doing so, Council promotes their commitment and helps them understand how they can actively incorporate sustainability into their daily lives. In turn, the community are encouraged to complete fun and informative challenges by responding to 4 monthly challenge postcards. Residents pledge in the following eight areas:
- I will use my electricity wisely
- I will rethink my diet
- I will use less water
- I will reduce my waste
- I will use my car less
- I will shop with care
- I will be aware of my impact on the planet
- I will get involved.
The program participants who completed the challenges listed, and returned the postcard to Council, received recognition and went into the draw to receive one of 4 major eco prizes on offer, to the value of $1000.
Name: Kate Valentine
Position: Team Leader Environmental Services
Phone number: (02) 9839 6371
Email address:kate.valentine@blacktown.nsw.gov.au
Division C - Highly Commended
Hornsby Shire Council: Earthwise at home - Low-Carb Living Project
The "earthwise at home - low carb living" project was designed as an education program with rebates attached to assist residents to reduce their individual carbon and water footprints. The major activities of this program have been a 13 month workshop series and the provision of rebates to assist with the installation of three low-emission technologies; photovoltaics, solar hot water and insulation. Nineteen workshops were held around the Shire. Topics were directly linked to the rebates which were funded by the Low Emission Technology Abatement (LETA) program administered by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA). "Footprints and Rebates" introduced participants to the concept of ecological foot-printing and the various ways in which they can reduce their negative impacts on the planet. It also provided residents with information on how this program worked and enabled residents to have a rebate allocated to them. Three technical workshops (Savings from Hot Water, Savings from Heating and Cooling and Demystifying Solar Power) were held regularly, all providing participants with access to information from specialists in their field. These workshops allowed participants to learn more about the low emission technologies and ask the guest speakers questions, assisting them in their journey to install the technology. The jewel in the crown was the provision of financial assistance to 112 residents to install insulation ($500 x 50 households), solar hot water ($750 x 52 households) or solar power ($4,000 x 10 households). Participants had a detailed home assessment by a service provider as part of their rebate conditions which provided them with an action plan to make savings on their water and energy bills and involved a refit of lights and showerheads to more energy efficient ones.
Name: Angie Marlow
Position: Sustainability Officer
Phone number: (02) 9847 6882
Email address: jryland@hornsby.nsw.gov.au
Division C - Highly Commended
Ku-ring-gai Council: Pool to Pond
Pool to Pond is an innovative approach to dealing with a problem faced by an ageing community whilst simultaneously doing something very positive for the environment. Many baby boomers in the Ku-ring-gai area own swimming pools which are no longer used. Maintaining these unwanted pools is expensive, time consuming and for some residents it is all too much; they pay thousands of dollars to have the pool backfilled and turfed. Pool to Pond assists residents in converting their unwanted swimming pool into a natural pond by supplying technical advice along with native aquatic plants and native fish. This conversion of unwanted pools into ponds is fantastic for local wildlife and can actually transform the way people use their property. It also lessens the amount of CO2 being released into the atmosphere as electrical filters and pumps are no longer needed. Instead of being embarrassed about a neglected pool or hating it because of the cost and effort it takes to maintain, suddenly Pool to Pond participants can luxuriate next to a wildlife haven while sipping a pina colada! This is a rare example of where doing the right thing takes minimal effort and enhances lifestyle and the environment.
Name: Peter Clarke
Position: Community Volunteer Program Coordinator
Phone number: (02) 9424 0811
Email address:clarkep@kmc.nsw.gov.au
Powerpoint presentation: Peter_Clarke_Ku_ring_gai.pdf (1.7MB)
Division C - Highly Commended
Willoughby City Council: Eco - Ethical Fashion Show
The Eco-Ethical Fashion Show was held on World Environment Day (5th June) in Westfield Shopping Centre, Chatswood. Coincidentally this was also the date of the premier of the "Sex and the City" movie. It was a fantastical educational display addressing a number of themes (organics, fair trade, recycled, remade, preloved, alternatives eg. bamboo) and issues (pollution, water use, origin) embracing the rise of Eco-Ethical fashion as well as addressing consumerism.
Name: Felicity McCullum
Position: Assistant Sustainability Education Coordinator
Phone number: (02) 9777 7730
Email address: felicity.mccullum@willoughby.nsw.gov.au
Division C - Winner and Overall Category Winner
Marrickville Council and the City of Sydney: Education and Behaviour Change through the Urban Sustainability Workshop Series
Now in its fifth year, the Urban Sustainability Workshop Series is a leading model of sustainability educators achieving behavioural change through participatory learning. Run by the Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre, a joint initiative of Marrickville and City of Sydney Councils, the series sees up to 1500 community participants annually learning about changes that they can make to reduce environmental impacts. Workshop topics range from Eco Choices for Home Renovators and Worm Farming to Natural Personal Care. To expand the reach of the series, Watershed staff developed the Workshop Resource Kit for Environmental Educators to share lessons learnt and templates developed. The kit has now been disseminated to over 120 educators and groups throughout NSW.
Name: Megan Bennett
Position: Senior Environment Officer - The Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre
Phone number: (02) 9519 6366
Email address:watershedinfo@marrickville.nsw.gov.au
Powerpoint Presentation: Watershed_LGSA_Awards.pdf (2.69MB)
